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Bristol Commercial Vehicles
Bristol Commercial Vehicles Ltd was a manufacturer of buses and trucks based in Bristol, England. Timeline * 1908 Bristol Tramways & Carriage Company built its first bus. * 1931 Bristol Tramways & Carriage Company was acquired by Tilling Group. * 1948 Bristol Tramways & Carriage Company became part of nationalised British Transport Commission. * 1955 Bristol chassis production was separated from Bristol Tramways & Carriage Company's bus operating activities and renamed Bristol Commercial Vehicles. * 1962 Rear-engined Bristol RE introduced * 1963 Bristol Commercial Vehicles became part of the Transport Holding Company. * 1965 Leyland Motor Corporation buys a 25% holding of Bristol and Eastern Coach Works(ECW) from the Transport Holding Company, allowing sales to non THC fleets. * 1967 LH introduced * 1968 VRT introduced * 1969 All English and Welsh THC (and British Electric Traction(BET)) bus interests pass to newly formed National Bus Company. Leyland (by now British Leyland) acquires an extra 25% holding of Bristol and ECW through a share swap: 50% of Park Royal (and its subsidiary Roe) and the Leyland National Company pass to the NBC in exchange. Bus Manufacturers (Holdings) Ltd. is formed to hold the joint venture's shares in Bristol, ECW, Park Royal and Leyland National. * 1981 Leyland Olympian introduced and VRT production discontinued * 1981 LH discontinued * 1982 British Leyland buys the National Bus Company's 50% stake in Bus Manufacturers (Holdings). * 1982 RE discontinued * 1983 The Bristol works is closed - All production moved to Leyland plant in Workington. Although the factory has been closed since 1983, the bus stop flags outside the site still refer to the bus stops as "Bristol Factory". Products Bristol RELL 2539 (AXI 2539) new in 1982 fitted with Alexander (Belfast) bodywork. Pictured here in Belfast, circa late 1990s early 2000. Now withdrawn.]] ]] Single deck * L type * SC - 'S'mall 'C'apacity * SU - 'S'mall 'U'nderfloor engined * LS - 'L'ight 'S'aloon * MW - 'M'edium 'W'eight * LH - 'L'ight 'H'orizontal engined :Note: A small number of Bristol LH and LHL bus chassis were bodied as pantechnicons for the 'Silver Cross' prams company * RE - 'R'ear 'E'ngined ** RELL - 'R'ear 'E'ngined 'L'ong and 'L'ow ** RESL - 'R'ear 'E'ngined 'S'hort and 'L'ow ** RELH - 'R'ear 'E'ngined 'L'ong and 'H'igh ** RESH - 'R'ear 'E'ngined 'S'hort and 'H'igh * B21 - also known as Leyland Lion * B52 - sold as a Leyland Bus Double deck * K type * [[Bristol Lodekka|LD 'L'o'd'''ekka]] * FS/FSF/FL/FLF Lodekka - '''F'lat floor * VRL - 'V'ertical 'R'ear Engined ('L'ongitudinal) * VRT - 'V'ertical 'R'ear Engined ('T'ransverse) * Leyland Olympian Trucks * HG - 'H'eavy 'G'oods * HA * ST - 'S'emi-'T'''railer Railbus Bristol provided the chassis for an experimental class of railbuses in 1958. The railbus used a Gardner engine and a hydraulic automatic transmission. The bodywork was built by Eastern Coach Works. Two such vehicles were built and used on branch lines in Scotland, but no further orders were placed and the pair were withdrawn and scrapped in 1966. See also * Bristol for the Crawler tractor brand / company * Bristol Cars * Bristol (trucks) - For truck brand. * Buses * List of Truck Manufacturers * List of Bus manufacturers * Web Site Links References / sources Based on WP article initially. * Curtis, Martin (1984). ''Bristol Buses in Camera, Ian Allen. ISBN 0-7110-1361-6 * Curtis, Martin (1994). Bristol VR, Ian Allen. ISBN 0-7110-2238-0 * Roberts, Duncan (2002). Bristol RE, NBC Books. * Townsin, Alan (2000). The Bristol Story Part Two, Venture Publications. ISBN 1-898432-78-3 External links * add relevant links here Category:Defunct bus manufacturers of the United Kingdom Category:Defunct truck manufacturers of the United Kingdom Category:Motor vehicle manufacturers of the United Kingdom Category:Companies founded in 1908 Category:1983 disestablishments Category:Bristol Trucks Category:Companies of the United Kingdom